Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the Kremlin has been severing ties with the West that were built up over decades. It has left European treaties on human rights and the prevention of torture, entered into others aimed at countering what it calls Western hegemony, and suspended its participation in nuclear arms treaties.
Education has also been the target of an accelerating crackdown. Late last month, Russia’s prosecutor general declared the International Baccalaureate, a Geneva-based nonprofit whose educational framework is offered at more than 6,000 schools in 160 countries, a criminal organization.
A week before the first day of classes, on Sept. 1, the more than two dozen Russian schools using the I.B. curriculum had to suddenly abandon it. The organization’s activities were prohibited, leaving anyone in Russia who cooperates with it vulnerable to asset seizures or jail time.
“It was such a shock,” said Daria, 42, who teaches at an elite Moscow high school that offered the program. She requested that her last name be withheld to avoid retribution from the authorities. “The country is turning inward,” she added, speaking by phone from Moscow. “It’s beginning to look very much like North Korea.”
The Russian Office of the Prosecutor General defended the ban by saying that the International Baccalaureate’s goal was “to format Russian youth according to Western templates,” accusing the organization of “stoking anti-Russian propaganda and hatred between nations.”
In a statement, the International Baccalaureate said it regretted that Russia’s decision could interrupt students’ education. The organization noted that it had successfully worked in places with shifting political and educational landscapes. Its program began as a way for international schools to provide a globally recognized credential, and it has long emphasized engagement with world cultures.
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The post Russia’s Ban on I.B. Schools Deepens Its Rupture With the West appeared first on New York Times.
